I've helped dozens of pharmaceutical companies educate healthcare providers about diseases, the latest treatment options, and the harrowing journey patients go through. 

You would think these are topics that medical schools cover, but healthcare is evolving so quickly that continual medical education is often provided by drug companies. 

Education is especially vital for rare diseases. They are not top-of-mind for healthcare professionals because they're by definition uncommon.

I remember working on marketing a drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease. Since treatments available only slowed down progression and are not curative, doctors often opted to "watch and wait." This robbed patients of years of their lives in a silent way.

Both my company and the competitor spent millions on medical education, bc the true competitor wasn't between the companies, it was against  the inertia of "watch and wait." Yet inertia can be conquered: by educating customers, we empowered them to take action.

neuroscience PhD, healthcare marketer, interfaith chaplain. vibe imagineer for /christin, co-host of the /okbanger show
seemore.tv/christin

Continual medical education by pharmaceutical companies is crucial for rare diseases to combat healthcare inertia